Board of Directors

Board of Directors

Guosheng Qi

Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer

Guosheng Qi is one of our co-founders and has served as our chief executive officer and chairman of our Board of Directors since our inception. Mr. Qi founded Beijing Gridsum in 2005 when he was a student at Tsinghua University. Mr. Qi holds a bachelor’s degree in computer software from Tsinghua University.

Guofa Yu

Director, Chief Operating Officer

Guofa Yu is one of our co-founders and has served as our chief operating officer and a member of our Board of Directors since 2005. Mr. Yu served as the operation director of Dyne Junhui, an information technology company, in 2005. Prior to that, Mr. Yu served as a project director of Founder Group, an information technology company, from 2002 to 2005. From 2000 to 2002, Mr. Yu served in technology and management roles in several small technology companies. From 1998 to 2000, Mr. Yu served as a software engineer at Neusoft Group, a software company. Mr. Yu holds a bachelor’s degree in management information systems from Central South University.

Herman Fong

Director, Co-President

Herman Fong has served as our Co-President and a member of our Board of Directors since 2019. Mr. Fong brings approximately 22 years of experience in the financial markets to Gridsum. From 2011 to October 2018, he was a partner and Chief Investment Officer of Public Markets Strategy at Pacific Alliance Group (“PAG”) Hong Kong, one of Asia’s largest alternative investment management firms that manages assets across a diverse array of private equity, real estate and absolute return strategies. While at PAG, he started and managed the firm’s liquid trading strategies business, and oversaw the investment, trading, operations, risk and compliance teams. Prior to PAG Hong Kong, he started the Hong Kong office for D.B. Zwirn Asia Partners Ltd., where he was Managing Director and CIO of Asia Pacific liquid trading strategies from 2005 to 2008. Prior to D.B. Zwirn, he held a variety of senior roles in trading across Asia, including at ABN AMRO Bank in Hong Kong from 2002 to 2005, Credit Agricole Indosuez in Hong Kong from 2000 to 2002, Lehman Brothers in Tokyo from 1998 to 2000, and Salomon Brothers in Hong Kong from 1996 to 1998. Mr. Fong received a Master of Science in operations research from Stanford University and a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering from University of California, Berkeley.

Yanchun Bai

Director

Yanchun Bai has served as a member of our Board of Directors since 2012. Mr. Bai has been a partner at the Commerce & Finance Law Office, a law firm, since May 2013. Prior to that, Mr. Bai was a partner at King & Wood Mallesons, a law firm, from 1993 to May 2013. Mr. Bai currently serves as a member of the board of directors of China Molybdenum Co., Ltd., a company listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Mr. Bai holds a bachelor’s degree in law from China University of Political Science and Law and an LLM degree from Stanford Law School.

Xudong Gao

Independent Director

Xudong Gao has served as a member of our Board of Directors since 2006. Mr. Gao has served as the vice director of Tsinghua University Research Center for Technological Innovation since June 2011. Mr. Gao has been a member of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology’s Expert Committee of Telecom Economy since January 2010. Mr. Gao also served as a director of the Tsinghua MBA program from 2008 to June 2011. Mr. Gao is currently a professor at the School of Economics and Management, Tsinghua University. Mr. Gao holds a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering from Harbin Institute of Technology, a master’s degree in economics from Renmin University of China and a Ph.D. degree in management from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Thomas A. Melcher

Independent Director

Thomas A. Melcher has served as a member of our Board of Directors since 2008. Mr. Melcher has served as the chief executive officer of F-101, Inc., an internet media company, since February 2015. Mr. Melcher served as the interim chief marketing officer of MongoDB, Inc., a software and services company, from June 2014 to February 2015, and as the senior vice president, international of Chegg Inc., an education services company, from September 2011 to September 2012. Mr. Melcher served as the chairman of the board of Zinch China, Inc., an education services company, from 2009 to 2011. Mr. Melcher serves on the boards of directors of a number of private companies. Mr. Melcher holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from Yale University and an MBA degree from Harvard University.

Peter Andrew Schloss

Independent Director

Peter Andrew Schloss has served as a member of our Board of Directors since 2016. Mr. Schloss has served as the managing partner and chief executive officer of CastleHill Partners since November 2015. Mr. Schloss has been serving as a director of Zhaopin Limited, a China-based career platform listed on the New York Stock Exchange, since February 2016, and a director and the audit committee chairman of YY, Inc., an interactive social platform listed on the NASDAQ Stock Market, since 2012. Previously, Mr. Schloss was a director and the audit committee chairman of Giant Interactive Group Inc., a China-based online game developer and operator, from 2007 to 2015, and a partner at Phoenix Media Fund L.P., a private equity fund established by Phoenix Television Group to invest in media and culture-related companies in China, from 2012 to May 2016. From 2009 to 2012, Mr. Schloss served as the founder and chief executive officer of Allied Pacific Sports Network Limited, a leading over-the-top provider of live and on-demand sports in Asia. Prior to joining Allied Pacific Sports Network Limited, Mr. Schloss worked at TOM Online Inc., serving as the chief financial officer from 2003 to 2005, as an executive director from 2004 to 2007 and as the chief legal officer from 2005 to 2007. Mr. Schloss holds a bachelor’s degree in political science and a juris doctor degree from Tulane University.